The present invention relates generally to product labels, and, more specifically, to shelf talkers.
Merchandising stores typically display on shelves different products with different prices. In a typical food market, for example, the shelves include a C-shaped metal bracket extending along the front edge thereof in which individual shelf product labels may be affixed for the corresponding products displayed.
A typical shelf label is in the form of a small pressure sensitive label, with the adhesive thereon typically providing permanent retention of the label within the shelf bracket itself. Alternatively, the shelf label may be bonded to a plastic insert or clip which itself is trapped in the shelf bracket at the designated location.
A shelf talker is a special type of product label typically used for promoting brand identity, units of measure, price comparisons, and special sale pricing and promotions. The shelf talker is typically larger than the permanent shelf label and is in addition thereto for increasing the visibility of products being promoted.
Shelf talkers are typically provided in groups of similar size on individual sheets for collectively printing the desired information thereon. Fixed information, such as store identification and product graphics, is typically pre-printed in large quantities of the sheets in any suitable manner during the production of the shelf talkers. Variable information, such as the specific product, size, and promotional price, may then be locally printed on each of the shelf talkers in a common sheet using a suitable printer such as thermal transfer, laser, or direct thermal printing.
Due to their temporary nature, shelf talkers must be easy to produce, install, and remove, as well as being durable enough to withstand their intended use. And, cost is a significant factor which affects shelf talker usage.
Shelf talkers have enjoyed years of successful use in this country in promoting shelf products. A typical shelf talker is formed entirely of card stock which is relatively inexpensive, is easily printed, and is sufficiently stiff for preventing undesirable curling when temporarily mounted to the shelf bracket. Mounting is typically accomplished by providing a central die-cut tab near the top of the card which permits the bottom of the tab and the top of the card to be trapped in corresponding top and bottom hooks of the shelf bracket. In this way, the card talker is mechanically retained in the shelf bracket, which is sufficient for its limited duration use.
However, the card talkers are therefore subject to being inadvertently removed from the shelf or slid therealong when hit by a customer.
This problem may be solved by using full label sheet shelf talkers which have also enjoyed years of successful commercial use in this country. This type of shelf talker includes a label sheet adhesively bonded to a release liner so that the top portion of the liner may be removed for adhesively bonding the top of the label to the shelf bracket. The typical adhesive provides a temporary bond with the bracket so that the label may be removed when desired. The adhesive also prevents inadvertent removal or sliding of the label on the bracket.
In both types of shelf talker sheets, on-site printing is limited by the capabilities of the specific printer being used. The typical printer cannot print along the four edges of a sheet due to minimum margin requirements. However, it is desirable to maximize the printing area of shelf talkers, which includes printing in the margins thereof.
Typical shelf talkers are therefore configured in their sheets with corresponding blank margin strips which are removed from the shelf talkers as they are installed to permit visible print fully to the talker edge. These margin strips are not printed due to the printer limitations, and are discarded as waste. This waste adds to cost, and decreases the useful area of the individual shelf talkers.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide an improved shelf talker which reduces waste due to printer limitations.